


Best Served Uncomfortable

by DeeNomilk



Series: Tashok the Dragonborn [16]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Assassination plot, Canon Typical Violence, Solstheim, sneaky shit is Tash's shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-27 03:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19782376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeeNomilk/pseuds/DeeNomilk
Summary: Tashok's back on Solstheim, again. And though she wasn't planning on embarking onto another adventure, well... she can't help but be drawn into yet another one of Raven Rock's affairs. This time, however, there's the slightest bit of reluctance to it.





	Best Served Uncomfortable

**Author's Note:**

> I added a drawing of the moment Tashok sees Tilisu, enjoy!

“I don’t see why you all had to follow me for this…” Tashok whispers as she and her companions usher themselves into one of the back rooms of the Ulen Ancestral Tomb.

On the suggestion of Geldis, at the behest of Second Councillor Arano, Tashok had once more blindly embarked on a quest where she had no clue how things would unfold.

“What if it’s someone dangerous, or a trap on the Bartender’s part…” Inigo interjects.

“Oh please, we can trust Geldis…” Teldryn must be rolling his eyes from under his helmet. “It’s me you should look out for.”

“Well, that just makes me feel much better regarding the conspiracy…” Lucien quips. “Oh, my mistake, _alleged_ conspiracy.”

Tashok chuckles.

Roughly a week after Tashok’s home had been truly complete, if not very empty, she’d received a letter from Lucien telling her they could reunite once more, hence her return to Solstheim.

“I appreciate the support then…” she turns to Lucien. “Glad to have you back.”

“Glad to be back! I see you wasted no time signing us up for more adventure…”

Tashok opens her mouth to reply, no doubt with a witty remark, but her ears pick up on the sliding of a door behind her. She brings her finger to her lips, and turns around to see who entered the tomb.

No matter how much she squints, she can’t seem to make out enough details to identify anything about their features, other than the fact the mystery person seems to be a woman dressed in wealthy clothing.

And an elf, not that this comes as a surprise.

She glances at her companions and motions to them to stay put. She quickly learned that Teldryn is most quiet when he's immobile. Inigo was the second most stealthy of the group, but why send in more people than necessary?

She creeps closer, hugging the edge of the wall, then the pillar’s as she keeps herself cloaked by the shadows. 

Despite her outgoing ways and love for interactions, something about the dark folds of the world always seemed to welcome her perfectly and make her feel at ease. She fits.

Almost like the wonderful click of a previously locked door's mechanism responding to just the right pressure and angle of a lock pick. Or a complex puzzle welcoming its final piece.

She eventually gets close enough that she can see each detail of the visitor.

She has to stifle down as gasp as she recognizes the face of Tilisu Severin. She embraces the cold grasp of the shadows as she processes the revelation, glancing about frantically.

It didn't make sense! Why would Tilisu, or any of the Severins for that matter, wish to harm the Councillor?!

She needs to leave before her breathing picks up and so she begins crawling backwards with her eyes locked onto the Dunmer until she’s safely back at her friends’ sides.

Her wide eyes and pale skin must have tipped off her friends to her surprise, as they give her questioning looks for several minutes until the woman leaves.

“What is it?” Inigo asks.

“Rather, who is it?” Lucien adds.

“Vilur Ulen himself, judging by your face.” Teldryn says.

“T-Tilisu Severin… I don’t understand…” Tashok gets up from her spot and heads for the door. “She’s been so nice to me. She and he family tried some of Geldis’ new sujamma… They're always friendly to others too..."

“So?” Teldryn snorts.

“So why would such nice people be planning to assassinate the Councillor," she pulls the door to the crypt open, peering around to make sure no one minds their exit. "Especially when they’ve been helping Raven Rock so much for, I don't know… Years, from what I've heard."

“To throw off suspicion?” Lucien offers.

The theory makes sense, as much as it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

“I need to look more into this.” 

The conversation dies down as they approach the market.

She’s quickly accosted by Arano, who immediately presses for information despite her out of breath panting.

“Did it work? Every time we tried it, no one would show up…” he sounds bitter and frustrated.

“Well, someone did come in.” Tashok wrings her robe with her hands. “It’s uh… I saw Ma’am Severin… Tilisu Severin?”

“Tilisu! Are you sure?!”

“That’s who I saw…”

Arano glances at her, his nerves making it look closer to a glare. He turns on his heels, chin down and deep in thought as he frantically paces away from Tashok, forcing her to jog in order to catch up to him.

“… in a plot to harm councillor Morvayn…” she hears him mumble to himself.

His cold gaze falls onto her when she finally comes to a halt besides him.

“I’m going to need hard evidence to prove it…” he says.

“Maybe you could search their home?” Tashok suggests.

He lets out a tense sigh as his eyes fall shut and shakes his head.

“I’m not kicking down anyone’s door until I have solid evidence in hand.” he looks to Tashok. “If you’re wrong about Tilisu, things would quickly go downhill around here and the real culprits might slip away. I can’t afford for that to happen.”

“I understand… I’m sorry.” Tashok’s ears droop.

“No, this can still work…”

He looks her dead in the eyes and straightens out.

“I may not be able to go investigate myself, but you’ve proven reliable so far.” he says.

“You want me to do it?!” Tashok blinks. “What if they try and stop me?”

“If you have the evidence and it places your life in peril, I would…” he pauses and sighs. “I would expect you to do whatever you must to keep yourself alive… Here, this key should open the manor, in case they’ve locked it. Good luck.”

He turns to leave, but then stops short at looks at Tashok again.

“Be careful child, if the Severins have betrayed us, then they’ll be well armed.” he warns before fading back into Raven Rock.

Tashok stares at the key in her hand, hesitant.

“I will go with you my friend.” Inigo places his hand on her shoulder.

“No.” she shakes her head. “I go alone…”

“What?! You can’t be serious… If this is as dangerous as the Second Councillor says…” Lucien trails off.

“Then it should be me. I’m good at sneaking around… I can do this. The more of us there is the easier it it to spot us. If we get spotted and things go sour... I don’t want more bloodshed than needed.”

Feeling her resolve, her friends quieten and nod.

“At least let us stand guard outside…” Teldryn says. “Shout if you need us.”

“Okay… alright…” Tashok nods quickly. "I need a drink..."

They go and sit at the Retching Netch, drinking solemnly in a heavy silence. Every attempt at a conversation dies after a few back and forth. Quickly her fiddling becomes unhelpful to her nerves and she stands hurriedly, zipping up the stairs to the exit. Sticking close to the manor, she takes to picking up various plants and ingredients until the time comes.

Once the sun sets, her companions watch her slip into the manor and close the door silently behind her.

The three men stand tersely in silence.

A silence that becomes almost deafening as it stretches on.

Both Inigo and Lucien visibly have to stop themselves from bursting into the manor; the longer their friend is gone, the more restless they become.

Some time passes… minutes? It must be longer than that, considering the now pitch-black skies.

How much time specifically is uncertain, but eventually, the door slides open silently.

Teldryn immediately reaches for his sword, but sheathes it back when he sees the very much green and not grey complexion of the elf that steps out.

“Do you have it?” he asks.

Tashok nods and holds up a piece of paper.

“It's uh... All here.” she frowns. "I trusted them..."

* * *

Tashok grumbles to herself as she crosses the ash-filled landscape towards the Ashfallow citadel.

“I don’t see why he had to send them ahead…” she throws her hands up, her voice rising in pitch with every word. “I can follow well enough! It’s not like I’d've slowed them down!”

“If they’re smart, they’ll wait for reinforcement before storming in.” Teldryn attempts to reassure her.

Even when trying to be helpful, Teldryn can’t help but sound contemptuous of others.

“They better hav— look out!” Tashok pulls Inigo towards her and away from a ball of flames hurtling towards them.

Quickly approaching them is a Burnt Spriggan, clearly peeved by their presence.

“Crap!” Tashok’s bound bow quickly materializes into her hands as a flame Flame Atronach appears by her side.

The first time Tashok had encountered the beings, she’d been downright terrified; not only were these variations much more aggressive and powerful than their woodland cousins, they were also seemingly resistant to fire, unlike the typical spriggans they encountered. This meant they were much, much harder to kill. A Flame Atronach won't do much good, but it was the first Atronachs spell she mastered, as as such the one that comes automatically.

Tashok is about to let her arrow loose when Teldryn jumps in front of her path, swinging down at the creature. Panic wells within her, but she manages to tilt her aim to the side just in time — the arrow flies less than half a meter from Teldryn and buries into the ashes with a sharp ‘thud’.

“For the love of-!” Tashok curses as she draws her bow again, careful to look out for her teammates before letting the arrow fly into the spriggan’s chest.

The Spriggan staggers backwards and Tashok lets out a small, hopeful breath.

Maybe they’ll bring it down before it can do any serious damage… Tashok's hands tremble at the mere thought of being burned by the creature.

An ebony arrow embeds itself into its wooden shoulder, sending it back further and vulnerably open for both Teldryn and Lucien to bring down their swords into it.

It keels over and Tashok opens her mouth to shout.

“Back up, quick!” Teldryn beats her with the warning as he and Lucien quickly scramble backwards, just in time to avoid the explosion of fire coming from the nearly dead creature.

Tashok’s arrow finishes it off and it collapses onto the hot ashes bellow it. All of their heavy breathing practically harmonizes as the group allows their nerves to regain some sense of normality.

“Well, that was unpleasant.” Lucien notes as he pats away embers that had clung to his boots.

“With any luck, we can make it to the Citadel undisturbed…” Teldryn nudges the Spriggan with his foot.

“Once we get to the Citadel, I want you all to stay behind me.” Tashok tells the group. “I don’t want any of my arrows to hit you.”

“Do you still poison them?” Lucien asks casually.

“Usually.”

The group continues their trek through the ash wastes, much more on guard than they were prior; Atronachs by their side and weapons drawn.

Tashok’s blood runs cold as they near thecitadel. There, in the distance, she can see bodies sprawled onto the ashes.

“It’s the Redoran guard!” Lucien gasps as they approach.

“Shit…” Teldryn kneels down in front of the bodies. “Seems it’s up to us now.”

“Get down!” Tashok feels panic spread from her chest all the way to the tip of her fingers.

Her companions immediately heed her order, dropping low to the ground behind a series of rubble and rock.

“What is it?” Inigo’s fur stands on ends.

“I’m not sure…" Tashok closes her eyes. "But I don’t like it. Something’s wrong.”

“Should one of us scout ahead?” Lucien asks.

“I’ll go…”

She takes in a breath in and is vigilant to exhale as slowly as possible, through her nose, as she creeps forward. She glances up and sees the reason for her previous panic: two assassins guarding the door. From their posture it seems they’d seen them coming, but no longer knew where they were and whether or not they were a threat.

One silent roll later and she’s relaying the information back to her group.

“We can take them.” Inigo says with confidence.

“Yes we can… here…” Tashok pulls out one of her own poison bottles. “Put this on your arrows.”

Inigo says nothing, only nods as he takes the bottle and mirrors Tashok’s own actions.

“I’ll take the one sitting on the steps.” she says. “Ready?”

Another nod.

The two of them draw their bow simultaneously, holding it tersely, before glancing at each other and letting it loose only a fraction of a second apart.

The two assassins drop to the ground, clutching weakly at their wounds before the poison’s effects fully take them.

Tashok glances away from the scene. Seeing people in there last moments stirs something uneasy within her, though the sensation has lessened in the past few months.

She’d killed before, back in High Rock. Skyrim isn’t the only province with bandits after all.

Doesn’t mean she enjoys it.

She just… Enjoys living more.

“We must be vigilant…” Inigo warns. “With any luck, they’ll think this was the extent of the forces sent to stop them.

“Doubt it… The assassins posted outside proves as much.” Tashok frowns.

Tashok promptly summons a new Flame Atronach before bringing back her trusted bow. She much preferred her summoned weapon over material bows; its lightweight alone is a momental advantage, but Tashok’s noticed her bow itself gains strength as her skills in Conjuration magic sharpen.

“Let’s go.” she cocks her head to the side.

She pauses before entering, turning to her companions.

“And stay behind me.” she dips her arrows into a poison bottle, stressing her point.

It was almost easy to ignore the familiar faces she fought, in the end, what with the masks and everything.

Almost.

She hesitates, just for a second. It would be problematic, really, if she’d been here alone.

She wasn’t, however. And her companion’s lack of hesitation more than make up for her current shortcomings.

She breathes a sigh of relief, despite her wound from a poisoned dagger and dismisses her bow before sluggishly opening her pack to fetch a potion to help her combat the poison. Tashok’s back hits the cold stone of Ashfallow Citadel as she tries and fails to steady herself after taking a long gulp of the elixir.

“Tash!” Lucien moves to catch her, despite being across the room.

“I’ll be fine.” she rasps out. “Just gotta… ugh… let the poison run through.”

She gives him a meek smile that lasts less than a second. She pushes herself up laboriously, less so once she feels Lucien’s hands wrap around her arm, hoisting her up. She also feels the telltale sensation of Restoration magic closing up her wound and banishing the poison from her veins.

“Thanks…” she smiles at him grateful, and shakes off the weakening feeling that’s seeped into her muscles. “Let’s go tell Arano the… the news.”


End file.
